A Fifty-Cent Lesson in Persistence
Shortly after Mr. Darby received his degree from the "University of Hard Knocks" and had decided to profit by his experience in gold mining business, he had the good fortune to be present on an occassion that proved to him that "No" does not necessarily mean no. One afternoon he was helping his uncle grind wheat in an old-fashioned mill. The uncle operated a large farm on which a number of colored child, the daughter of a tenant, walked in and took her place near the door. The uncle looked up, saw the child, and barked at her roughly "What do you want?" Meekly, the child replied, "My mammy say send her fifty cents." "I'll not do it," the uncle retorted, "now you run on home." "Yas sah," the child replied. But she did not move. The uncle went ahead with his work, so busily engaged that he did not pay attention to the child to observe that she did not leave. When he looked up and saw her ...